I love the word “righteousness” because it implies “being right”. That may sound like a silly thing to point out, but it isn’t if you really take the time to ponder it. Declaring oneself righteous is a lot easier, in practice, than actually “being” righteous. For example, how many times have you heard someone swear up and down they were right about something; yet, you knew for a fact they were wrong? How many times have you made that same error and lived to regret it in the end? As a corollary to that question, how many times have you had the humility to admit your unrighteousness and repent from it, which often included asking forgiveness from others? These are all questions which arise from the single implication of “being right”, not just proclaiming your righteousness.
Have you ever seen a person being accused in a court of law who had an absolute sense of settledness to them because they knew they were indeed righteous and – if true justice was served – that they would be declared innocent? There’s a certain confidence that exists in the realm of “being righteous” as opposed to simply declaring oneself righteous. Being righteous is settling. While simply declaring righteousness may thwart those seeking justice for a time, it isn’t enough because deep down this strategy for deliverance is critically flawed – it has no substance and therefore does nothing to settle a person’s soul. In fact, this brand of arrogance typically rots a person’s peace over time.
The point I’m making here is that it’s really, really important that we seek to “be” righteous, not merely declare it in an attempt to free ourselves from the punishment we associate with being unrighteous. A wise person knows the difference. The Bible tells us that the only way we’re ever going to possess such wisdom is to fear the Lord. “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight” (Proverbs 9:10). In the absence of godly wisdom, any declaration of righteousness is merely conjecture, strictly speaking. The only opinion that matters is God’s. How does a person know if they are righteous if they don’t understand what their Creator considers righteous in the first place? They don’t. As a result, this person lives a life of inherent insecurity, anxiety, and misplaced fear. Fear God instead.
Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. Nothing is covered up that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. Therefore whatever you have said in the dark shall be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in private rooms shall be proclaimed on the housetops. I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do.
But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him!
— Luke 12:1b-5
The most miserable people I know don’t understand their own depravity (e.g., thinks they are generally a good, righteous person outside of God’s grace). That may sound counterintuitive, so let me explain. A person who thinks they were born good has to uphold that standard by themselves, which places a massive burden on them that ultimately makes them weary and, if they’re honest, a hypocrite (for even a self-righteous person will admit they aren’t perfect). This burden is suffocating. In contrast, the very best thing a person can ever do is understand their own depravity the way the Word of God describes it.
For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, as it is written:
“None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one. Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive. The venom of asps is under their lips. Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood; in their paths are ruin and misery, and the way of peace they have not known.
“There is no fear of God before their eyes.” [No fear means no wisdom – Proverbs 9:10]
— Romans 3:9-18
Once a person understands their depravity, they are set free from the charade of maintaining self-righteousness. In fact, this is why a humble person gladly throws up their arms and asks for deliverance from their Creator, out of fear and respect for Him. “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction” (Proverbs 1:7). Only a fool rejects the truth about their own depravity, for it is tantamount to checking themselves into prison – that is what unrighteous thinking does every time.
So, where does this leave us believers? Well, we must always remember that our flesh longs to declare itself righteous in the absence of godliness. Thankfully, we have a new creature in us that wars against such assertions (ala Romans 7) and seeks to actually “be” righteous, not just pronounce it. We learn to be righteous by seeking to understand what, exactly, our Creator deems righteous. We receive our guidance from the Word of God, for this is the primary means by which God expresses His will to us. For example:
These are the things that you shall do: Speak the truth to one another; render in your gates judgments that are true and make for peace; do not devise evil in your hearts against one another, and love no false oath, for all these things I hate, declares the LORD.”
— Zechariah 8:16-17
Phew! Only one and a half verses in Holy Scripture and already I’m convicted of my own depravity. I can’t remember a day where I performed flawlessly in light of this passage, which means that I constantly do things the Lord hates! Ugh. The very best thing I can do is accept this truth about myself, in humility. God gives grace to the humble, right (James 4:6)? Humility is my only hope, yours too, “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you” (James 4:10). These are the times when Paul’s words make so much sense, “But by the grace of God I am what I am” (1 Corinthians 15:10a).
A worthless person, a wicked man,
goes about with crooked speech,
winks with his eyes, signals with his feet,
points with his finger,
with perverted heart devises evil,
continually sowing discord;
therefore calamity will come upon him suddenly;
in a moment he will be broken beyond healing.
There are six things that the LORD hates,
seven that are an abomination to him:
haughty eyes, a lying tongue,
and hands that shed innocent blood,
a heart that devises wicked plans,
feet that make haste to run to evil,
a false witness who breathes out lies,
and one who sows discord among brothers.
— Proverbs 6:12-19
God hates unrighteousness. This ought to strike fear in us, motivating us to seek to see the truth! We cannot shroud ourselves in ignorance (darkness) and yet claim to be in the light.
The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!
— Matthew 6:22-23
There’s a big difference between declaring righteousness and actually “being” righteous. We are not born understanding the difference. We must learn it by reading our Bibles with intent and humility. We must seek truth and understanding so that when the time comes we are able to function wisely, in a way that is pleasing to the Lord. We have to assess ourselves honestly by looking in the mirror and clinging to that assessment, lest it escape us and we lose the benefit of our own righteous conviction.
For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like.
— James 1:23-24
Being a “doer” of the Word is what “being” righteous means. We cannot simply declare ourselves righteous because we “feel” good about ourselves. Feelings have nothing to do with justice. We need to know the Lord, Himself, motivated by a healthy fear of Him, for this is the beginning of true wisdom which leads to freedom.
Love in Christ,
Ed Collins